Controller



H. 0. JAMES.

CONTROLLER. APPLICATION FILED APR. I6, 1918.

: 3 89, 1 Patented Aug. 30, 1921..

,2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

36 35 a v WITNESSES: XNVENTOR @m/ (5 5w Henry QJames.

H. D. JAMES.

CONTROLLER.

, APPLICATION FILED APR. 16, I918.

Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: 05m) 6 6w INVENTOR Hen/y. flJames.

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEL' HENRY 1). JAMES, or EnenwoonPARK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO wnsrme- HOUSE nnncrnxc & MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, A CORPORATION or PENN- sYLvANIA.

CONTROLLER.

Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

Application filed April 16, 1918. Serial No. 228,863.

T all w ham it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY D. James, a citizenof the United States, and a resident of Edgewood Park, in the county of.Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Controllers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to controllers, especially to those of the drumtype, and one object of my invention is to provide a simple andefiicient structure which-shall be more compact, neater, less expensiveand of greater utility than the controllers-now in use.

Present-day devices of this class are usually supported in cast ironframes which, consequently, are unduly large and heavy and require theuse of additional insulating supports. It is an object of my invention,by making the frame of separate parts, to reduce the size and weight,and, by employing an insulating support as a base, to avoid thenecessity of using the customary heavy castiron base.

Another purpose of my invention is to provide a drum controller, theparts of which maybe standardized so that the controller may be set up,of any size, wherever desired.

Another object of my invention 'is to provide a structure with which itshall be possible to employ. closed. wiring. Another object is toprovide a controller which shall occupy a minimum amount of space.

Another objectis to provide a novel contact finger. g V

Still another object is to provide a device which, though more compactthan prior devices, is capable of use for controlling motors of greaterhorsepowers.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. i

Figure 1 is an end elevation of my controller with the cover removed;Fig. 2 is a view partially in elevation and partially in longitudinalsection, on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectionalview taken on the line IIIIII 'of Fig. 2, and looking in the directionof the arrows, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IVIV ofFig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

End plates 1 and 2 are interiorly provided with brackets 3 and 4:, towhich is removably secured an insulatingmember 5 having alternatelyarranged grooves 6 and 7. For the purpose of this specification, thatportion of the controller which carries the member 5 will be regarded asthe lower portion. Supporting members 8 are fixed within the grooves 6by single members, such as bolts, 9, and their outer portions are bentdownwardly at an angle, and are provided with flanges at theirextremities, as shown at 10, to each of which portions are suitablysecured a spring member 11, a conductor 12, and a stop member 13, theextremity of which stop member is formed into a flange 14;. The springs11 may preferably beformed of some material like phosphor bronze and theseparate conductors 12 provided, so that the temper ofthe springs 11will not be affected by electrical currents. Each spring 11 carries acontact finger 15, fastened thereto and to the conductor 12 by a bolt16, which extends through an opening in the stop member 13, and thesquare head 17 of which engages the flange 14, thereby preventingaccidental rotative movement and consequent working loose of the bolt 16when the contact finger 15 is forced inwardly and outwardly during theoperation of the device. As the bolt 16 fits loosely in the opening ofthe stop member 13, the contact finger15 has also a limited amountofside play.

I have thus provided a rigid, adjustably mounted, contact finger whichcannot bend but yields in all directions to make perfect intimatecontact with the movable contact fingers, can easily be renewed whendesired, and cannot work loose. Furthermore, because of the compactarrangement, it is possible to make these fingers very wide withoutmaterially increasing the size ofthe device, thus permitting the controlof motors of comparatively large horsepower by means of a smallstructure.

. The upper portions of the end plates 1 and A tened an operating handle19, the travel of which is limited by stops 20 and 21 on the endplate 1. A plurality of contact members 22 are insulated from, andsecured in pairs to, the shaft 18 by bolts 23. Each contact member 22may carry any desired number of movable contact fingers 24c forcooperation with the fixed contact fingers 15. The shaft 18 carries theusual star wheel or accentuating cam 25 into the notches of which aspring 27 normally forces a roller carried by a pivoted arm 26.

Insulating boards 28 are mounted in the grooves 7 to constitute areshields, and thereby avoid the necessity of blowout coils, though suchcoils may be added if, desired. The boards 28 are secured together by arod 29 and are spaced from each other by insulating tubes 30. Theinsulating boards are of the same general shape as the end plates 1 and2, but they are provided with large interior openings 31, and are cutshort, as at 32. By this arrangement, a minimum amount of insulatingboard is employed.

It will be noted that the insulating member 5 serves the double purposeof a base for the controller and a support for the contact fingers 15and the insulating boards 28.

The insulating support 5, as particularly shown in Fig. 4, is preferablyof much smaller width than the end plates 1 and 2, thereby permittingthe fingers 15 and their supporting structures to be contained withinthe boundaries of the end plates 1 and 2. This arrangement provides alsofor an additional advantage in compactness, in that attaching lugs 33may be mounted upon one of the end plates 2, in the space between theboundaries of the end plate 2 and the insulating support 5. A similararrangement may be effected with the end plate 1, but it is founddesirable, instead, to employ a single attaching lug 84 on the outsideof the end plate 1, directly beneath the handle 19.

The bolts 9 not only secure the supporting members 8 within the grooves6, but they serve also as contact terminals for the coritact fingers 15.The conductors are admitted through an opening 35 in the end plate 2 anda notch 36 in the insulating suppor't'5. By means of this arrangement,all the wires are led in together from-one point, which makes possible asystem of closed wiring. This construction, furthermore, avoids thenecessity of employing the customary rows of vertical, insulation-linedholes through which conductors are introduced, in open wiring systems,to connect the contact finger terminals to the supply lines, the motor,the resistance, etc.

The lugs 33 carry retaining lugs 87 for cooperation with links 38secured to levers 39, which are pivotally mounted at the lower ends of aremovable cover 10. In order the better to secure this cover, the endplates 1 and 2 are interiorly provided with flange seats 41 and 42, andthe base of the end plate 1 is further provided with a pair of flanges13, which flanges, with the lower portions of the seat 4:1, formreceiving grooves 4A for the cover 40.

The operation will be readily understood from the above description.Upon rotating the handle 19, the shaft 18 will be rotated so that any ofthe contact fingers 2&, as desired, may make contact with the contactfingers 15, which latter yield in all directions, in opposition to thesprings 11, to effect good electrical contact.

My invention permits of standardization of parts. It is not necessary tobuild a separate controller for every different use. All that isnecessary is that standard parts, like the end plates, the contactfingers, the insulating boards, etc., be kept in stock, together with astandard material from which to saw oil the requisite length ofinsulating support, and the parts may thus be assembled or repaired in aminimum amount of time.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a controller, the combination with an insulating support and apair of end plates of greater width than said support secured thereto,one of said end plates having an attaching lug upon its inner face, of adrum rotatably mounted in said end plates.

2. In a controller, the combination with an insulating support and apair of end plates of greater width than said support secured thereto,one of said end plates having an attaching lug upon its inner face andthe other of said end plates having an attaching lug upon its outerface, of a drum rotatably mounted in said end plates.

3. In a controller, the combination with an insulating support, andapair of end plates secured thereto, one of said end plates havingattaching lugs upon one of its faces, of projecting members upon saidlugs, a casing, means upon said casing for engaging said projectingmembers,and a drum rotatably mounted in said end plates.

4. In a controller, the combination with a pair of end members andconnecting means therefor comprising a rod, of a plurality of contactmembers, barriers between said contact members and supported by saidconnecting means, and means upon said rod for spacing said barriers.

' In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th dayof Feb. 1918.

HENRY D. JAMES.

